Stoner extends championship lead

Casey Stoner extended his championship lead to 32 points with victory in the Czech MotoGP in Brno.

Repsol Honda rider Stoner led from lap four when his team-mate Dani Pedrosa crashed out, and he sped clear to win by 6.5 seconds from Andrea Dovizioso, with Marco Simoncelli (Gresini Honda) third.

Pedrosa's first pole of the season did not prove to be a stepping stone to success as he was overtaken by Jorge Lorenzo on lap one. Lorenzo almost crashed out on lap three and, though he managed to stay upright, he lost the lead to Pedrosa, but Pedrosa himself suffered a crash soon after, handing a lead to Stoner which the Australian would not relinquish.

Stoner told BBC Sport: "We knew we could be on the podium but it looked tough for the win so I'm delighted.

"I had a good early battle with Andrea and I thought Dani would get away but the bike felt good.

"Then Dani crashed out and I tried to pull a gap by putting in some real quick laps and then it was all about managing it to the finish."

Stoner leads the championship on 218 points, 32 ahead of Lorenzo with Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) a further 23 points back.

British rider Cal Crutchlow (Tech 3 Yamaha) crashed out with 16 laps of the race remaining.